Double Cross

Chapter 112

“IT’S GOOD TO FINALLY meet you in person,” DCAK said, but he seemed a little nervous and stiff. “Everything you said has come true. All of it.”

“Yes. I told you I would get out of ADX, and here I am,” Kyle said. He too seemed a little shy, but it was only an act.

“Is he asleep in there? Does he sleep?” DCAK asked, gesturing toward the Cross house across Fifth. He knew the place well and already had dozens of photos from every angle.

“Top floor. That’s where he usually works, figures out his puzzles,” Kyle said. “He doesn’t seem to be home, does he? No lights up there.”

“Actually, he isn’t. He’s in Montana, chasing me. You think he’s figured this game of ours out. I don’t,” said DCAK.

“There you have it, then. But you should be careful. I wouldn’t ever underestimate Dr. Cross. He has a sixth sense about these things, and he’s obsessive, a very hard worker. He could surprise you.”

DCAK couldn’t hold back a trace of a smile-cruel. “Is that what happened to you? You mind me asking such a blunt question?”

“Not at all. What happened to me was that my worst enemy finally caught up with me-my pride, my ego, my hubris. Near the end, I made it too easy for Cross.”

“You hate him, don’t you? You want to bring him down in a public way.”

Kyle smiled now. DCAK was projecting, revealing more than he should about himself. “Well, I do want to humble Cross. I wouldn’t mind destroying his reputation. But no, I don’t hate Alex. Not at all. Actually, I consider him a dear friend.”

DCAK laughed out loud. “I would hate to be one of your enemies.”

“Yes,” Kyle Craig said, and then he laughed too. “You wouldn’t want to get on my bad side.”

“So, am I? Have I gone too far?”

Kyle reached out and patted the killer’s shoulder to let him know that everything was good between the two of them. “Now tell me about yourself. I want to know it all. And then,” Kyle said, grinning again, “you can tell me about your partner. I saw someone lurking back there in the shadows. I’d hate to have to shoot whoever it is. But, of course, I will.”

The woman who went by the name Sandy Quinlan stepped forward from the tree line.

“In your honor” were her first words to the great Kyle Craig. Perhaps disingenuous, but maybe not? Certainly fawning. Of course, she was an actress too.

Kyle nodded slowly, then said, “So tell me about John Sampson. Where are you keeping him, and what do you have planned?”